The subject matter of the present disclosure broadly relates to the art of spring devices and, more particularly, to a compression spring assembly that includes a compression spring core and a compression spring shell that is provided separately from the compression spring core, as well as a method of manufacturing the same.
Compression springs, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,398, for example, are relatively well known and enjoy usage in a variety of applications and environments. Notwithstanding the overall success of such known compression springs, however, certain issues exist that may be providing resistance to even greater adoption and use of such known compression springs.
One example of such an issue may relate to the relationship between the quantity or mass of uncured material in a given compression spring design and the length of time associated with curing that quantity or mass of material to form the finished product. That is, the use of a greater wall thickness of a compression spring construction will generally take a greater length of time to cure into a finished compression spring than a compression spring design having a comparatively thinner wall thickness. Such increased lengths of time may, in some cases, undesirably result in reductions in overall production rates and/or increased manufacturing costs.
Another example of such an issue may relate to the performance characteristics of associated with known compression spring constructions. That is, the reinforcing layers that are formed as a part of the monolithic structure of conventional compression springs are generally uniform along the longitudinal length of the compression spring. As a result, the contribution of these reinforcing layers to the performance characteristics of a conventional compression spring will be generally consistent along the longitudinal length thereof. Thus, conventional compression spring designs are poorly suited for the development of constructions that permit variations in the performance characteristics of the compression spring over the longitudinal length thereof.
Accordingly, it is believed desirable to advance the art of compression spring devices and develop compression spring constructions that may be useful in overcoming the foregoing and/or other issues that may exist with known compression springs.